The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 164

It was another three days before we had an idea for getting rid of Fenton. It wasn't Lila or Preston who came up with it. It was Val.

We were in the family room, playing games, when he paused and turned to me. I looked at him, curious about why he paused when he was winning. Val was fairly competitive and didn't like giving up the chance to win. I found I was very much the same. "What's up?" I asked. "What about an exorcism? I know it's something humans do to rid people of evil spirits. Witches must have something like that, don't you think?" Val suggested. "You mean for getting rid of Fenton?" I asked.

"Yeah. I think it could work. The soul of the cat is still in there. We can probably save it like you and Gray are wanting to. I only worry that the old trope of something aging and dying rapidly could happen to the cat once the magic isn't there to keep it alive. I think we need to know more from Lila about how the life lengthening spell works." Val said excitedly.

"We can call her! I bet she can answer the questions." I replied.

"You do that while I go ask Preston about the exorcism spell." Val told me, jumping up.

I pulled out my phone as he left and dialed Lila's number. Victor thought it was important that I have a way to contact her, so he programmed it into my phone. I waited for her to pick up.

"Hey, Echo. What's up?" Lila asked as she came on the line.

"Val has an idea for getting Fenton out of the cat. I just needed to know about the life extension spell that you use. What happens when you reach the end of it?" I asked.

"When I reach the end of it? Well, basically, this spell freezes you at whatever age you were when you started it. Once the extra life I've taken is gone, I will start aging from there and have the rest of my natural life span. It won't happen rapidly, if that's what you're asking. It will be like my life was paused at twenty-six and I will move on to be twenty-seven after that." She explained.

"So the cat won't die if we remove Fenton from it?" I asked.

"Cat physiology and human physiology are different. I don't know how old the cat was when Fenton ended up stuck in it. I want to say that he shouldn't age. The cat should live his natural life span after that. Are you planning to keep it as a pet?" Lila snickered. "Yes. We're going to give it the love and care it deserves. Fenton said he was run over, shot, and attacked by dogs. That means the cat had to live through those things as well. He should have a life of care and cuddles. I never got to have a pet. I bet Gray will love it." I replied with a smile.

"You really are too pure. I can't even bring myself to tease you. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of dirty things I could say right now, but saying them to you makes me feel weird and gross." Lila told me. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. We have a long life for me to get comfortable with you and for you to become less pristine. One day, I'm going to be able to say something nasty to you and you're going to laugh instead of turning all red and saying 'I don't know what that means' in your breathy little girl voice." She chuckled.

I felt myself blush. I couldn't imagine a day when I would understand what everyone was talking about. There was plenty of time, it made sense that I would have that one day.

"Thank you for being my friend, Lila, and for loving my papa. He needs someone to make him happy. From what Talia has told me, he's been very lonely for his entire vampire life." I said softly.

"You don't mind that I'm a dark witch, do you? Grace was the same way. She said for light to exist, there needs to be dark and I was part of the natural order of things. She used to tell me that I wasn't entirely dark because I drew the line at children and honestly good people." Lila whispered.

"She was right. You're a dark witch and that makes you a good match for a man like my papa. The fact that you have your own set of morals makes you an even better fit for him. He only hurts people who deserve it. If you were an entirely dark witch, Marius wouldn't have even given you a second glance." I told her.

"Well, I'm glad for it then. Thank you for being my friend, too. I feel like helping you is making up for not being able to help Grace. Maybe Marius is my reward from the Goddess for not being all that bad. That's possible, right?" She asked.

"I think that's exactly what happened. You deserved something for not going completely dark, Lila. Thank you for your help on this. We'll let you know how things with Preston go. If this is the answer we're seeking, we may call you to help adapt it for what we need." I said.

"You may need the power of your triad. This isn't how these spells are supposed to be used. We may need an unconventional way of getting rid of them." Lila responded.

"We're hoping that this is unconventional enough, but I'll make sure to give your suggestion to Val and Preston."

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I really wanted Lila to feel accepted in our family. Marius was important to me. If he loved her enough to propose, I wasn't going to make him think I was against her. He was old enough to know his heart.

I wasn't going to lose relationships over petty things like who was and wasn't a dark witch. In the long run, I was more vampire than witch. We had different guidelines for darkness.

Marius was feared because of the severity of his punishments. He wouldn't just kill people; he would make them suffer. Ever since Victor's rules started in the Council, Marius had been able to punish far more vampires than he had previously. Talia told me that was one of the reasons she knew Marius liked Victor.

For a while, I'd been worried that Marius didn't like either of my mates. He was always very cool to them. Talia told me that he was actually a lot nicer to Gray than he was to most werewolves, except Harmony. She then pointed out how much better he treated Gray than he did Cam.

I was almost certain that Gray's fighting against the torture had made Marius mad at him. Talia told me that he actually found it refreshing to see someone stick to their beliefs even in the face of so much opposition and someone as powerful as Marius himself. I was proud of Gray for that. He was pretty stubborn.

Val returned with Preston, who was carrying a book. I'd wondered what took them so long. It seemed that Preston had some idea of what could help us. I was excited.

"Val told me your idea. We have a few options. There's nothing for removing a secondary soul from a being. A few spells deal with removing malevolent spirits from structures and land. There is one for removing them from people. Malevolent spirits rarely inhabit animals and you usually get rid of them by killing the animal and performing a cleansing." Preston explained.

"There's nothing like the whole exorcism bit that needs an old priest and a young one?" Val asked.

"Not really. I have one for guiding a lost spirit back home to the Goddess. Maybe if we combine that with the spell for removing spirits from people...." Preston mumbled as he looked through his book. "Lila suggested using the power of the triad. Do you think that will help?" I asked.

"There are some spells that work better with the focus of a coven. The added power can boost the effects of a spell. With something as powerful as removing Fenton, we may need a whole coven. You and your siblings can almost mimic that. You're very powerful, but we may need more than that." Preston said.

"What if we had both triads and all the witches in the house?" Val suggested. "Emmalyn says that Echo, Victor, and Gray make their own powerful triad. They were able to add the power and focus for pushing the curse back on Echo."

"Their marks prove that they're blessed by the Goddess. There isn't any precedent for something like that. I think it's a good idea, though. We should talk to everyone at dinner. Do you think we can get Brian to come help with it? The more witches we have, the better." Preston said. "I think we'll need more than we have, though. This is a really powerful spell."

"Can we use Lila? I know that she'll want to help." I told him.

"I don't normally like to add the magic of a dark witch to spells, but we'll need as much power as we can get and she's a powerful witch. I'm sure the Goddess will excuse it. Light and dark witches working together to rid the world of a darker spirit is something she would want. If we can put aside our differences for this, I'm sure she would have a lot of hope for witches in general." Preston smiled.

"Is Sean's sister still in town? She might make a good addition. I'll ask the coven leader if there's anyone who would want to come help us with this." Val said.

"I'll go check with Sean. You want to contact Brian, Uncle Preston?" I asked.

"Will do." He nodded.

I left the family room and went to the library. Ever since I was marked by Gray and Victor, I could smell each person in the house distinctly. Rosario and Sean smelled like plants, but Rosario smelled like the mixture of trees in spring and fresh earth, while Sean actually smelled like a ripe cantaloupe.

He was by himself. It was rare, but I was grateful. Rosario hadn't really been relaxed around me since they returned.

Rosario promised that he would just feel better after the curse was really gone. He didn't know if it would come back in me like it did in Victor. I understood. I worried about that a little myself. It made me extra careful.

Sean was sitting on the couch, writing in his notebook. I came up and sat in the nearby chair. I didn't want to startle him too much.

After a minute or two, Sean looked up at me. He smiled and closed his notebook.

"What's up, Echo?" He asked.

"We have an idea for removing Fenton from the cat. We need a few more witches. We were wondering if your sister was still in town." I said.

"Oh. She was pretty upset when dad told her about what we were. She's still in town but I don't know if Brooke would be up for it. I can call her and ask." Sean offered.

"Can you do it now? Or do you need time? Preston is calling your dad to ask if he wants to help with it." I asked.

"I'd like to do it without the pressure of someone looking over my shoulder. I'll call now and come find you." He replied.

"We'll be in the family room when you have the answer. I need to talk to Victor and Gray about it too. We're using both triads for it. Preston still has to figure out how to combine the two spells we're using." I told him and stood.

"Wait on telling them until we're sure we can get the backup we need. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up. Speaking of that, Echo. I was wondering about something earlier. Have you been treating Gray better? When the curse had you, you weren't really listening to him. He deserves to be listened to as much as you listen to Victor." Sean said.

I was a little stunned. "Umm. I think I have been. Gray has been teaching me more about werewolves. I listen to everything he says."

"I just want to be sure that you're treating him like he deserves. He's a good guy. He was right about not torturing Fenton. I should have listened to him, but I was so angry. I don't fault you for that. I just want to be sure that you're treating him right now that the curse doesn't have you." He responded gently.

"I'm trying, Sean. I promise that I'll take good care of him. Gray is important to me. I love him as much as I love Victor. He's a big part of my heart. I'll always try to make him feel special." I promised.

"Good. I'll come see you soon. Go on." Sean waved me off.

I headed back to the family room where Val and Preston were waiting. I hoped they had good news. It would be really great if we could get rid of Fenton before the weekend. I wanted to spend more time with Gray and Victor. I would get that back once we didn't have to have so many people in our house.